Arkansas collides with No. 2 rated Alabama

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The hype and scrutiny swirling around today’s matinee matchup between the University of Arkansas and No. 2 Alabama promises to be intense for two SEC rivals jockeying for NCAA Tournament positioning.

The Razorbacks (19-9, 8-7 SEC), No. 15 in the NCAA’s NET Rankings, could seemingly solidify a tournament berth with a victory at 1 p.m. Central (ESPN 2) on senior day at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

That would mark a first on the season, as the Crimson Tide (244, 14-1) are 13-0 at home with an eye-popping average win margin of 27.7 points. The Coleman crushing has included a 78-52 rout of Kentucky and out-of-control wins of 40-plus points over LSU (106-66), Vanderbilt (101-44) and Georgia (108-59).

“You want to compete, you want to try to minimize the crowd involvement in the game,” Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said. “You have to do that by defending, and Alabama’s a really hard team to defend because of their spurt-ability, because of their dribble-drive along with their three-point accuracy.”

Alabama Coach Nate Oats noted the Tide is 7-0 in SEC home games.

“It’s a big game,” he said. “We’re a game up from A&M with three games to go, so if you’re planning to win an SEC championship, you can’t give away home games.”

Alabama is the first SEC team to score 100-plus points against three SEC opponents since Arkansas did it in 1998. The closest anyone has come at Alabama is three points by Memphis (91-88) and Mississippi State (66-63).

This will be the first home game for the Tide since revelations in a murder investigation involving former Alabama player Darius Miles and Michael Davis included police testimony that ace freshman Brandon Miller transported the handgun allegedly used to kill 23-yearold Jamea Harris on Jan. 15.

Oats has been the subject of withering criticism since those revelations for what was seen as his tone deaf response that Miller was in the “wrong spot at the wrong time.” Oats provided clarification to those remarks last week.

Many college basketball analysts are appalled that Alabama Athletic Director Greg Byrne, in consultation with university officials, elected not to suspend Miller, a likely NBA Draft lottery pick whose 19.5 scoring average leads the SEC and all Division I freshmen.

Oats was questioned further on Friday.

“Look, I mean, we’ve been taking it very seriously from Day One,” Oats said when asked if there’s a level of punishment Miller should have faced. “The first minute I got the information I called Greg, and we talked about it. We’ve known the severity of it.

“Greg, I thought did a great job of addressing those comments on Wednesday. I really don’t have much else to add to it. We felt like we’ve done the right thing in this case.”

Miller exploded for a career-high 41 points on 14-of-25 shooting in Wednesday’s 78-76 overtime victory at South Carolina while his teammates combined for 37 points on 13 of 37 shooting (35.1%).

“Having played there before, I know the atmosphere is wild,” Arkansas junior Davonte Davis said. “It’s going to be rocking, and we know they haven’t lost there and they’ll be ready to play coming off a huge road win. We’re coming in ready to play, too.”

Arkansas will have a different look since the first meeting, with heralded freshman guard Nick Smith back in the lineup after missing 19 games in two different stints to manage a knee issue. Smith scored a career-high 26 points on 9-of 14 shooting, including 5 of 8 from three-point range, in the Hogs’ 97-65 rout of Georgia on Tuesday.

“Arkansas is much better than they were the first time we played them I think,” Oats said. “I think we’re better too.

“But getting Nick Smith back has been a big addition for them. They lacked three-point shooting a little bit.”

Smith said Tuesday night after Arkansas beat Georgia 97-65 he was already thinking about the Crimson Tide when he came out for the last time against the Bulldogs.

“I’m looking forward to it, you know,” Smith said. “We’re gonna have a hard week of practice and go to Tuscaloosa, see what happens.”

Musselman said the Razorbacks defended Alabama well most of the game in the first meeting between the teams, an 84-69 win for the Crimson Tide on Jan. 11.

“We defended them pretty well for most of the game and they got hot down the stretch,” he said. “They’re an explosive offensive team, so we’re going to have to defend. And then … they’re such a great defensive team that we’re going to have to share the ball. … The ball has got to have eyes and find open people, and you can’t force things against their defense.”

The task of guarding the 6-9 Miller will largely fall on Davis, who frequently takes on an opponent’s top perimeter scoring threat.

Davis did a commendable job on Miller in Alabama’s earlier win at Walton Arena. Miller did not take a shot in the first half, which was tied 33-33 at intermission, but wound up with 14 points on 3-of-4 shooting, highlighted by three-pointers on back-to-back trips late in the game as Alabama turned a 65-63 lead into a 78-63 advantage in a three-minute flurry. Noah Clowney hit a key three-pointer to start that run and Mark Sears, who scored a gamehigh 26 points, had two assists, a steal and rebound during the 13-0 blitz.

“Miller’s one of the best catchand-shoot three point guys in the league,” Musselman said. “He’s got great size. Sears gave us a lot of problems with his dribble penetration, and obviously you don’t want to give up threes.”

Musselman also noted Clowney’s big three from the right corner and other outstanding contributors like Jahvon Quinerly, Charles Bediako, and guard Nimari Burnett, who was not available for the first meeting.

“So they have so many different weapons,” Musselman said. “They have a player [Burnett] that’s a McDonald’s All-American that’s back that was injured early in the year and gives them added depth at the guard position. … So there’s a reason they’re ranked where they are. They’re really, really good.”